The present disclosure relates generally to manufacturing composite structures and, more specifically, to systems and methods that facilitate automating at least one step of a composite manufacturing process.
Composite laminate components generally include a plurality of layers or plies of composite material assembled together to provide the composite component with improved engineering properties. Composite components are typically manufactured by stacking a plurality of plies on top of each other until a desired thickness and shape is achieved. For example, the manufacturing process typically includes cutting plies of composite material to a desired shape, stacking the plies layer by layer, and compacting the plies after each additional ply is layered over the previously stacked plies. The plies of composite material may be produced with a removable polyfilm that extends over at least one side of the plies, and that facilitates maintaining separation between stacked plies in storage. During manufacture of composite components, the polyfilm is removed from the plies of composite material before being installed as a layer in the composite component. Removing the polyfilm from each ply used to form the composite component can be a time-consuming and laborious task.